A Bowl Game Audition for Justyn Rhett

The Las Vegas Bowl offers a spotlight for Nebraska players looking to further cement themselves with the current coaching staff or showcase their abilities for future ones, potentially in the transfer portal.

That makes the New Year’s Eve bowl game an important one for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that the Huskers have a chance to end the season on a strong note after back-to-back ugly losses to Penn State and Iowa to close the regular season.

Sometimes opportunities just present themselves. A year ago, Justyn Rhett was in the transfer portal during Georgia’s playoff run. Now the safety is back at his former high school, practicing with Nebraska, and a day away from an opportunity to start in the Las Vegas Bowl for the Huskers because DeShon Singleton is unavailable. The game certainly presents itself as a showcase for Rhett at a position where the Huskers have both short-term and long-term questions.

2025 stats

7 tackles
0.5 tackle-for-loss

What to know

Rhett came to Nebraska after being a well-regarded recruit who signed with Georgia out of high school, but wasn’t in the plans for the Bulldogs moving forward. Since arriving in Lincoln, when his name has come up internally, things have been positive, but Rhett hasn’t had many opportunities on the field, and when he has played, the contributions haven’t been overly memorable.

What’s at stake

For Rhett, this is a literal job interview. The Huskers need to figure out what they want to do at safety. Opposite Rhett will be Rex Guthrie, a redshirt freshman the staff really likes but one who also struggled at times this season. Nebraska struggled to replace Omar Brown in 2024 and has missed Isaac Gifford more than most would have expected in 2025.

The Huskers have recruited a number of safeties, but only Guthrie has broken through the veterans, and Nebraska hasn’t yet seen a lot from Caleb Benning or others, despite their names occasionally being brought up unsolicited. All of this is to say, Rhett is getting a chance to show what he can do for Nebraska against a ranked opponent.

The Huskers should absolutely look for a ballhawk in the portal or someone who can come downhill and provide thump, but the film and reps Rhett puts on tape in the Las Vegas Bowl should at least help provide some semblance of a path forward at the position.

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